Pictures from Samantha's first week

This week has been crazy... we can't believe we're parents of a 10 day old!! We've had some questions about how we're doing, so we thought we'd answer them here.

When did we come home from the hospital?
Samantha was born on Tuesday, June 10th at 6:30 pm and we came home from the hospital around noon on Thursday, June 12th. Lisa was resisting such an "early" release because she was afraid to lose the 24/7 access to nurses. But they booted us out of there anyway!

How were the first couple of days?
We're not going to lie... the first couple of days were tough. Lisa was a hormonal wreck! Breastfeeding was very scary! And Lisa's Type-A personality was very confused and unsure about how to care for this new little bundle of joy. If Sean was scared at all, he didn't let on and was steady as a rock while we waited for Lisa's hormones to level out a bit! :-)

How are we doing now?
We are doing much better! As Lisa's hormones have settled down and as we've gotten to know our daughter a little more, we are really enjoying this time. She is SO beautiful and like all new parents, we just love staring at her and seeing all the goofy, lovely faces she makes.

How is Samantha doing?
We had our first pediatrician appt on Monday, June 16th. Samantha was 6 days old and was already 4 oz over her birth weight. This was really good news and a great sign that she is eating well. At this age, you also judge a baby's health by how much she's pooping and peeing and Sammy is EXCELLING in that department! :-) Thank goodness this method of grading health changes as we get older! :-)

Are nicknames ok for Samantha?
Yes, nicknames like Sammy and Sam are perfectly fine for our little girl. Although we know other nicknames will develop (like Munchkin, Precious, Sweet Pea, etc.) we'd prefer if you DIDN'T call her nicknames like Poophead, Dork, etc. :-)

Is Sean working during this time?
Yes, Sean is squeezing in work as much as he can. Although he is definitely taking time to spend with our little girl, Real Estate is an interesting business and at this time, it just isn't feasible for him to ignore clients for a large chunk of time. He is definitely changing diapers, taking some night duty with Sam, and spending quality time with his daughter, but he is also squeezing in work at the same time. I'm very proud of how he's handling the schedule so far!

Are we getting any help?
Sean's mom has been here since the 11th and just left today. This was a huge help (especially during those first few days) since we were able to concentrate on taking care of Samantha and trying to get rest... while laundry got "magically" washed, lunch got "magically" prepared, and dog hair got "magically" vacuumed. This week will be interesting as we try to adjust to the schedule without our fearless helper! Lisa's mom is arriving in a little over a week and we know we will definitely be ready for the reinforcements to show up! :-)

We have also been getting wonderful help from friends who have dropped dinner by and are continuing to do so this week while Lisa and Sean are "without a helper". I had no idea how wonderful and helpful that is and I now know what new parents will appreciate in the future. Obviously, we will need to start preparing our own food in the future (I don't suppose we can get people to bring us food until she leaves for college!), but during the first few weeks as brand new parents, it is a Godsend.

Hey... where are the pictures?
Okay, I won't keep you waiting any longer. Here are some of our favorite pictures from our first week with Samantha... You should be able to click on them to see them bigger.

Family Portrait

Getting some fresh air

Curling up with Daddy

Mixing Business with Babysitting

Sammy with Papa and Nana (Sean's parents)

Sammy with Nana

All clean after Samantha's first bath at home

Strapped in the swing

Ready for her first car ride (besides coming home from the hospital)

Hey Paparazzi... leave me alone!!

Samantha Burrito

Another Samantha Burrito

So tired!!!

Woe is me...

Welcome Samantha Ryan Shepard!!!

On June 10th, we proudly welcomed Samantha Ryan Shepard into this world. She was born at 6:29 pm, weighing 6 lbs 8 oz and she was 19 1/2 inches long... and immediately we knew she was the cutest baby we'd ever seen!

Our Labor Story
[You can skip this part if all you want to see are pictures! :-)]

The day was definitely different than we expected, but ended with her exciting arrival. When we had talked to the doctor prior to getting induced, we were under the impression that the first part of the day would be a little slow and boring (we even brought magazines and movies!), then when the water broke, the labor would probably progress quickly, with a long round of pushing since this is our first child.

Well... Samantha had slightly different plans. Sean and I showed up at the hospital at midnight to get my dose of Cirvidil. In laymen's terms, this was done to get my body in a favorable state for labor (there's no point kicking the contractions into gear if there's no way the baby can get out!). We planned on resting until the afternoon, when my doc would show up, give me Pitocin, break my water, and kickstart us into labor. Sean and I went to sleep and got as much rest as we could.
I woke up around 7:30 am with some pretty significant contractions... but I wasn't sure that's what they were because they weren't going away at all. I'd always thought you have a contraction for about 60 seconds and then you wait around 5 minutes for the next one to come. But mine were just coming one after the other... so I called the nurse to confirm that that was the pain I was feeling. Sure enough, we were having progressive contractions about 1-2 minutes apart. So much for those magazines, card games and movies!!! Although we will never know for sure, the doctors hypothesize that I was probably going to go into labor in the next 1-2 days on my own... which is why the Cirvidil did the job of kicking us into labor.

Sean helped me walk around, sit on an exercise ball, and just breath through my contractions for a couple of hours. Then the nausea hit! About every 3 contractions, the nausea would take over and I'd get sick. What fun!!! The contractions progressed for a few more hours and around noon, we ordered the epidural. Best move I've ever made!!!

It took the doc 3 tries to get the epidural in, but I gotta tell you that I really didn't care at that point. The "pain" of the epidural was like a raindrop compared to a bucket of water. The funniest part about the whole epidural process was that the doctor STARTED SPEAKING IN AN ENGLISH ACCENT during the third try... I guess he thought that voice would be more calming and soothing??? If Sean wasn't there to confirm his new accent, I'd assume I was just delirious, but Sean agrees that he did do a Madonna impression during that third attempt!

From about 12:30 or 1:00 to about 4:00, I just slept, still feeling the contractions, but no pain. Feeling contractions without feeling much pain is a very weird concept to me, but it was perfect!! My doctor showed up around 4:30 and I was dilated about 7 centimeters. At this rate, it looked like we might start pushing around 10:00 pm. Doc was going to head home and then come back as I progressed. Well, she checked on me again around 5:45 pm and I was dilated to 10 centimeters, thus canceling her dinner plans! :-)

So now it was time to push. All feeling disappeared from my hands. Even though it had taken 9 months to get here, I was so nervous and I didn't know if I was ready for what was coming! Our doctor headed to her office across the street to get some work done while the Delivery nurse started the pushing process with Sean and me. Yeah, that sounds weird, but since this was my first child, the doctors usually let the nurse take the first hour or two of pushing, and they show up for the last part.

About 10 minutes into pushing (about 4 contractions), the nurse abruptly told me to stop pushing. WHAT? But there's still a baby in there... what do you mean stop pushing? She said "I see the head. The baby's coming. I've never caught a baby before and I don't plan on starting now". So they paged the doc and we waited through contractions for 5-10 minutes while we waited for the doc to get there.

Our doctor came running into the room, jumped into her scrubs, threw some gloves and glasses on, and the pushing resumed. About 4 contractions later, Samantha showed up in all her glory. I will never forget the first time I laid my eyes on that precious face... our daughter was here!!!


PICTURES
So... since this is what you're really here for, let me post some of Samantha's first pictures. Please don't look at her mom... she didn't quite have a chance to get freshened up before the cameras started clicking! :-)

Lisa during early labor trying to work through the contractions. Nice outfit!!!

Nice hairdo!!! A little Flintstones hairstyle to get it out of the way for pushing.

You tell us, Samantha!!!

We both earned a good rest, right!? :-)

Our precious bundle

In this corner, weighing in at 6 lbs 8 oz...

Working with two laptops to try to get an email out to people...
Not something we recommend after a long day of watching your wife go through labor!

This is about 10 hours after Sammy was born...
Lisa was doing more research on how to become Baby Wise!! :-)

Affectionately termed "Our Little Troll Doll"
Give her some green pigtails, and you have to admit there is a resemblance!

Getting ready to go home from the hospital.
Samantha is wearing the hat her 8 year old cousin, Channing, made for her.

Much love from the new and improved Shepard family...
Sean, Lisa, Samantha (and of course, Charlie and Sadie)

4 days and counting...

That's right... we are scheduled to induce on Tuesday, June 10th... which means Squishee will join us on either June 10th or 11th (depending on how much torture she decides to put Lisa through!) :)

So how are we feeling? Excited. Nervous. A little scared. But probably, more than anything, we just can't get it to sink in that Squishee is going to be in our arms in just a few short days. In fact, the very next post to this blog will be AFTER she is born. Unbelievable!

We're saying lots of prayers that Lisa goes into labor naturally before Tuesday, simply because that may decrease the chance of us ending up needing a c-section. But either way, our prayers are for a safe delivery and healthy baby, no matter how she enters this world!!

On a fun note, we are posting some pictures below of a "photo shoot" we did. Our friend, Don, took a ton of pictures of us and this prego belly... and I'm posting some of our favorites (including some goofy ones!). Wouldn't you just know it that the day we did the pictures was the day my very first stretch marks showed up. Told you Squishee was going to be ornery! =) Anyway... here are some of our favorites (you should be able to click on the images to see them larger)...

Lisa Wins!!!!

Every pregnant girl needs a Maalox break now and then

Just some healthy belly laughs!

Isn't he such a supportive husband?